Salad

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT SALAD - PAGE 3

F antastic find: Settler's salad (chef salad) Price: $7.75 Where to go: The Grey Goose Address: 101 W. Queens Way, No. A, Hampton Hours: Breakfast served 7-10:30 a.m. Monday-Friday; lunch served 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Saturday. Back in the day, we would occasionally enjoy a "ladies" luncheon at the Grey Goose tearoom. For the price of the slight embarrassment faced when ordering a dish called "To Market, To Market," we could rest assured that soon we would be luxuriating in the simple pleasures of a ham biscuit, Brunswick stew and bread pudding with lemon curd sauce.

Let the fun resume. The annual Farm Fresh Extravaganza, a gigantic consumer food show highlighting more than 140 food-industry vendors, will be at the Hampton Coliseum Friday through Sunday. Food and decorating demonstrations take center stage at regular intervals throughout the event. As Chef Dirt, Jerry Smith will demonstrate his way with Cape Hatteras clam chowder, crab dip, shrimp -- with tangerine and cashew sauce, in stock and coconut-shrouded. Smith has written four cookbooks celebrating seafood.

Tasty Discovery: Veggie quesadilla Price: $8 Location: Momo's Café, 11801 Canon Blvd., Newport News. 240-5854. Momoscaf.com. Hours: 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday Lunch at the newly opened Momo's Café is a feta-lover's delight for those who choose the veggie quesadilla and herb roasted potato salad side. Large chunks of the cheese garnish both the salad and the quesadilla, which also incorporates oven-roasted vegetables like squash and onions, mushrooms, tomatoes and fresh spinach.

I heard recently that KFC - Kentucky Fried Chicken - now offers lunch and dinner buffets. I decided to take a closer look. Sure 'nuff. "All you can eat," the sign says. It's a helluva buffet! Time and space preclude me from mentioning every item offered. Main selections include KFC's own Extra Tasty Crispy chicken, BBQ chicken and Original Recipe Chicken. Add to that a righteous salad, vegetable and dessert bars and WOW! Not bad. The BBQ chicken was the best. It was, as promised, truly finger lickin' good and reminded me of fare I'd enjoyed at many a Fourth of July picnic.

It's a funny thing. About this time of year, folks begin complaining about their gardens. Not about the preponderance of nasty critters aiming to nibble every last leaf or about mysterious, invisible insects threatening to turn otherwise healthy stalks into a lifeless heap. The moaning is about the sheer quantity of vegetables spewing forth from the garden. The main culprit is zucchini. You've probably heard the horror stories. They go something like this: I was walking through my garden and ended up face first in the dirt after tripping over a 4-foot-long zucchini, which wasn't there an hour before.

Tasty discovery: Tuna salad sandwich Price: $6.59 Destination: La Bodega. 22 Wine St., Hampton. 757-722-8466. http://www.labodegahampton.com. Hours: 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday; 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 7 to 11 p.m. Saturday. Lunchtime on Fridays is crazy-busy at La Bodega, a wine shop, cafe and caterer located in downtown Hampton. Folks line up at the front counter to place their take-out orders then stand around and converse while their sandwiches are being prepared.

It is no surprise that lettuce and other greens are often sneered at as rabbit food. The common concept of a salad is of a bowl of rather tired, limp iceberg lettuce leaves, perhaps topped with a few slices of starchy carrot and a wedge or two of watery, flavorless tomato. But, for at least six months of the year, you can enjoy wonderful salads made from a variety of crisp, sweet homegrown greens. Salad vegetables require very little care once started. They are not favorites with insects and usually can be grown with little pest control.

A debonair Frank Simmonett, dressed in a black tux, serving towel draped over his arm, presents me with a single crabcake appetizer. The breading is light, the backfin meat plentiful, moist and seasoned with salt, pepper and oregano. Next to me, my husband, Ken, savors every spoon of his onion soup au gratin. Small pieces of cheese toast nestle in a thick beef and chicken base, all sprinkled with Romano cheese. What a wonderful way to start a weekend dinner at Nick's Seafood Pavilion on Yorktown's waterfront.

For dieters, one of the biggest obstacles to weight loss is a basic one: hunger. Not all calories are created equal when it comes to filling you up, and many people pick foods that won't keep their stomachs happy for long. Here are some tips, with help from Newport News dietitian Gale Pearson: Never get too hungry. The longer you delay eating, the more food you'll need to feel satisfied. Eat every three to four hours - three healthy meals and small snacks. Go for fiber.

The multicolored neon curtains in the windows stand in stark contrast to the dark paneled booths and bull's horns hanging on the walls. It's obvious that Newport News' Dizzy Dolphin is still evolving. Located in the former Bodine's on J. Clyde Morris Boulevard, remnants of the old barbecue joint overwhelm the new whimsical seafood touches. And that's not surprising for a restaurant that's seen so much change in the past few months. The Dizzy Dolphin opened in September, replacing Bodine's, which was a Daily Press "reader's favorite" barbecue restaurant on the Taste of Tidewater list in June.